Actions speak volumes

Published: January 23, 2001 12:00AM

Keathun Gale pulled 20s from his wallet and handed them out like a dot-com millionaire.

Handed them out to only the kids who lived in blue houses. The blue house kids also got automatic A's, days off from school, all-day recess. Everyone else was told to sit and not speak. And, oh, by the way, they had a test coming up. In the mean time, Gale put his back to them, as if they did not exist.

Brown eyes, a blue house, a February birthday. They were all arbitrary tickets, without rhyme or reason, to preferential treatment Monday afternoon at Kean Elementary School.

Discriminating and segregating based on the color of someone's house makes about as much sense as leaving someone out based on, say, the color of his skin. The message, received loud and clear, was brought to Kean by students at The College of Wooster's Martin Luther King Jr. Speaks program.

Students will visit three other Wooster elementary schools this week -- Wayne, Lincoln Way and Melrose. The college established the program last year with Kean and Wayne as a way to bridge its activities with the larger Wooster community, said LaTashia Reedus, assistant dean of students for Black Student Affairs.

"We talk to students about how to take Dr. King's message and apply it on a daily basis, how to get along with someone on the playground. Schools have been warm and receptive to us, and it's made it that much easier," Reedus said.

Three years ago, the office of Black Student Affairs started MLK Speaks on campus as a way to familiarize students with King's messages beyond the "I Have a Dream" speech. Students volunteered to read passages from speeches and sermons during lunch. This year, volunteers were told their service would include time with elementary school students, Reedus said.

"Going into the schools has made this a richer experience. We've had some real diversity in our volunteers -- Black, white, international students, males and females. That's been the uplifting part for me," Reedus said.

Gale graduated from the college last year and is interning with Black Student Affairs. He and Wooster senior Amanda Spicher quizzed the kids Monday on their civil rights history. The answers were impressive.

Who was Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.? A leader in the civil rights movement; a man who brought Blacks and whites together; a man who worked to end segregation.

When was he born? Jan. 15, 1929.

What does it mean to discriminate? To leave people out. Why? Because they're different.

"Dr. King talked to people who felt cheated and angry, people who were fighting against being held down. Those people wanted to be violent and fight back, but King talked about being non-violent," Spiecher said.

Kean principal Peg Butler told her students the message of non-violence was one they can use every day.

"In the 1960s, in the Civil Rights movement, one of the most important things was that they remained in control. That's important for you, that you be held accountable for how you react to things, and what you do with your anger. It can motivate you, and you can do good with that. We have to continually remind ourselves how important it is to understand our differences and how we're alike," she said.